UK’s worst doctors are named, shamed but let off: Just a slap on the wrist… for fatal mistakes and criminal behaviour

Some of Britain’s worst doctors have been allowed to carry on practising despite making fatal medical errors and engaging in criminal behaviour, The Mail on Sunday can reveal.
In spite of such failings as overlooking cancer symptoms, botching operations and kerb-crawling, they have been effectively let off with a slap on the wrist.
In total, 147 doctors were given formal warnings by the General Medical Council (GMC) in 2013, which is charged with upholding professional standards. Cases included:
At least five in which doctors missed the symptoms of cancer – sometimes with fatal consequences;
A surgeon who threw a scalpel across an operating theatre during an operation;
A GP who indecently exposed himself at a Christmas party; and another caught soliciting for prostitutes.
In each case, the GMC chose to issue a warning rather than impose a tougher penalty. Last year, 55 other doctors were struck off – 1.6 per cent of the 3,348 formally investigated.
A further 86 were suspended, out of the total of 233,000 doctors who are licensed to practise